New England's Pro Flyweight division is much deeper than you see in other regions, but the 125 pound weight class is currently reigned over by Pennsylvania based fighter, Blaine "The Shutdown" Shutt (8-4). He claimed the CES MMA flyweight belt after a split decision win over #2 ranked Johnny Lopez back in January. Shutt is only 3-3 over his last 6 fights, but he's fought some stiff competition who's compiled a 55-26 record going into those 6 fights. Never one to back down from taking the tough fights, Shutt is new to the New England scene, but he's ready to make a statement.
The aforementioned Johnny "Mr. Nice Guy" Lopez (12-5) still finds himself in the top 2 after the loss to Shutt, and that is directly due to his 11-2 record dating back 6.5 years. The Underdog Mixed Martial Arts product is looking to reclaim his CES gold, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a Shutt vs. Lopez rematch based on how closely the first fight was contested.
Cage Titans color commentator, Richie Santiago (8-2), rounds out the top 3 of the pro flyweight division. After dropping a unanimous decision on Dana White's Contender Series to current UFC Bantamweight Miles Johns (10-1), Santiago got back to his winning ways locally at CES 60 in January of this year by TKO'ing Giorgi Kudukhashvili at bantamweight.
UFC vet Tateki Matsuda (15-10) is slotted in the 4th position after dropping a unanimous decision to the recently retired Kin Moy at Cage Titans 47 in January. Matsuda has been fighting professionally since 2008, and is most likely on the tail end of his career, but he's still one of the most dangerous Flyweights in the region, and is a risky fight for anyone.
Newly crowned Premier FC flyweight champ, Donnie "The Real Deal" Ballou (6-3), rounds out the top 5 after an impressive upset over #7 ranked Josh "Ruthless" Ricci (5-2) at Premier FC 30 at the end of February. The Ohio based fighter is looking to continue his winning ways on the New England scene once fights commence.
You can check out the rest of our pro flyweight rankings here: https://www.newenglandmma.org/rankings
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